Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2022 i Business Traveller

UPFRONT EMIRATES HAS OUTLINED plans to upgrade its fleet of 120 aircraft, describing it as the “largest known fleet retrofit” project. The work is set to begin next month as part of a multi-billion dollar investment in the carrier's inflight customer experience. Emirates plans to retrofit four aircraft “from start to finish” every month, continuously for over two years, with a completion date of April 2025. The project will begin with the refresh of 67 A380s. The airline will then turn its focus to upgrading 53 B777s. The works will see nearly 4,000 of the airline's new premium economy seats installed, which are already available on A380 routes to London, Paris and Sydney. Emirates plans to introduce the product on flights to New York JFK, Auckland, Melbourne, San Francisco and…

UPFRONT EASYJET HAS LAUNCHED a trial offering free lounge access to customers with Flexi Fare tickets for flights from London Gatwick's North Terminal. Access to the Gateway Lounge in the North Terminal is available to all Flexi Fare customers until November 30. They will be able to use the lounge daily for up to three hours from 6am. The carrier's Flexi Fare is a bundled fare which provides customers with a large cabin bag, a 23kg hold bag, a free ‘Up Front’ seat, use of a dedicated bag drop, fast track security, speedy boarding, free flight and route changes, and an Eat Drink Shop voucher. The Gateway lounge opened a year ago in collaboration with No 1 Lounges, and offers a range of hot and cold food, as well as…

UPFRONT HOSPITALITY GROUP EDYN has announced plans to open the sixth London property under its design-led Locke aparthotels brand. The firm has acquired the former NH Kensington hotel, situated on Cromwell Road around five minutes north of Earls Court Underground station. The property is set to be converted into a 121-unit aparthotel, with an opening date scheduled for June 2023. Features will include a mixture of studio, one- and two-bedroom open plan apartments, as well as a bar, restaurant, co-working and meeting space, and private gardens. Design will draw inspiration from “the iconic Art Deco style of Derry and Tom's department store and the golden age of Kensington” with a “glamorous mid-century aesthetic”.…

EVER WONDERED WHY hotel employees often look so tired? Long and unsocial hours are part of the reason, and why it is difficult to recruit and retain staff. German company Ruby Hotels has introduced a 35-hour week with no change in salary for employees, and will also give all employees a share of its profits. Earlier this year the Munich-based hotel group, offered to cover the cost of tattoos, haircuts, and piercings for new employees and saw a 25 percent increase in job applications. Employees who want to continue working the original 40 hours per week will also benefit as all accrued ‘overtime’ will be recorded, which can either be paid or used towards additional time off at a later stage. All employees also receive an allowance for their commute…

UPFRONT BUSINESS TRAVELLER has teamed up with property management company Eson2 to offer a reader the chance to win a two-night stay in an apartment at Eson2's property on Cromwell Road, located opposite London's Natural History Museum. Additionally, readers get 10 per cent off stays at Eson2 properties (for check-in before May 2023). For full terms and conditions and to enter visit, businesstraveller.com/competitions…

REMOTE WORKING Laptops, tablets and scuffed notepads are dotted across a communal table, behind which people of various ages, professions and nationalities get on with their day's work, some engaging in stimulating conversations with surrogate colleagues while others are laser-focused on the task at hand, their ear buds blocking out background noise. It's a scene remote workers will be familiar with - the only difference is that you're sitting a couple metres from people checking in and out. In recent years, hotel brands have capitalised on the growth in remote and hybrid working, redesigning public spaces to include shared workspaces, converting unoccupied rooms into offices that can be rented by the day (see Our guide to working from hotels, October 2020), or setting up standalone co-working venues. On a personal…

BACKGROUND Marriott International introduced its Moxy Hotels brand in 2014. There are now nearly 100 open, with more in the pipeline, including Moxy Brooklyn Williamsburg and Moxy NYC Lower East Side. This property opened in February 2019. WHERE IS IT? In Chelsea, close to the corner of 6th Avenue and West 28th Street. You can walk to Penn Station in around five minutes and from there take the train to JFK. WHAT'S IT LIKE? As with many New York hotels, the only way of appreciating the size of the hotel is by crossing the street and looking up, from where you can see all 35 storeys of this thin slice of a building (see a video on the Business Traveller You Tube channel). It's fairly anonymous when viewed from a…

BACKGROUND The hotel initially opened in 2019, marking the debut of the group in the city. It closed in September 2020 due to the pandemic and reopened in May 2021. WHERE IS IT? On Rue de la Montagne in Downtown Montreal. It is within the Golden Square Mile district, where the city's bourgeoisie resided in the late 19th century (hence the name). The hotel is connected to the Holt Renfrew Ogilvy luxury department store on the third floor. WHAT'S IT LIKE? Designed by Lemay in collaboration with Sid Lee Architecture, the 17-storey glass-walled black building stands out on a sunny day in Montreal. The exterior gets the brand's luxury touch with gold lines, while cut-out sections add an abstract element to the angular structure. The ground-floor space has a gallery-like…

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL has confirmed plans to reflag more than 20 of its UK regional Marriott hotels under the Delta by Marriott brand. Following an agreement between Marriott and the hotels’ owners, 23 properties are set to be rebranded, including Manchester Airport Marriott Hotel, Liverpool Marriott Hotel City Centre, Birmingham Marriott Hotel, Edinburgh Marriott Hotel and Heathrow/Windsor Marriott Hotel. Marriott said the rebrand would begin this month, followed by a phased renovation schedule. All properties are expected to be renovated and rebranded by late summer 2023. Membership benefits will remain unchanged. “There will be no impact on terms at the hotels as a result of the brand transition,” Marriott said.…

FINNAIR HAS ANNOUNCED plans to shake-up its network as a result of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The carrier's Europe to Asia routes have been significantly affected due to the closure of Russian airspace, which has forced it to suspend some services and take longer routings on others. Finnair has resumed flights to Far Eastern destinations, including Guangzhou and Hong Kong, but admitted “flight times to Finnair's Asian destinations are now considerably longer, weakening the profitability of the company”. The new strategy will see the airline move towards “a geographically more balanced network connecting Europe to Asia, India and the Middle East, and North America via Finnair's home hub Helsinki, including a continued strong domestic presence”. Finnair also confirmed plans to reduce its fleet, without giving specific numbers, and said…

UPFRONT EDINBURGH COULD BECOME the first city in the UK to introduce a tourist tax, according to plans unveiled by first minister Nicola Sturgeon. The Scottish Government intends to introduce a bill giving councils the powers to implement a visitor levy. The bill is expected to be laid before parliament early next year. Under the proposed tax, overnight visitors would pay a small additional charge on their accommodation. It is estimated that the levy could raise approximately £15 million per year, which could be used to invest in sustainable tourism as well as managing the impact of tourism on the city. Edinburgh City Council has long campaigned for a visitor levy. A consultation in 2018 revealed that 85 per cent of the 2,500 respondents supported its introduction. City of Edinburgh…

MELIA HAS OPENED Villa Le Blanc Gran Melia, its 15th hotel in the Gran Melia collection and the first carbon-neutral luxury hotel in Menorca, Spain. The hotel is located on Santo Tomas Beach on the Migjorn coast, halfway between Mahon and Ciutadella. The hotel, which is also a member of Leading Hotels of the World, is the only such hotel on the island of Menorca, and the Spanish hotel brands first energy-efficient, carbon-neutral operations hotel. The renovation of what was once the Sol Beach House Hotel was led by the architect Alvaro Sans. It has 159 rooms and a building management system that creates “intelligent buildings”. The system controls the newly installed biomass boilers and the photovoltaic solar panels. The existing air-water chiller has been replaced and instead geothermal energy…

ANA IS OFFERING NEW, environmentally friendly, inflight meals in its international first class cabin. The meals include a main course, kale focaccia, made using soft kale grown with compost recycled from inflight meal residues. The kale focaccia, kneaded with soft kale paste in the dough, is available on first and business class inflight meals on select international routes departing from Japan until November 30. The focaccia is handmade in-house at the inflight catering facility. Other environmental dishes includes Nobeoka bamboo shoots made from bamboo shoots grown in Nobeoka, a city in Miyazaki prefecture. The dish was developed by Local Bamboo Inc in response to the issue of abandoned bamboo groves.…

DESTINATION Sydney's harbour is particularly serene this glorious morning. Watching the crests of waves from our bow catch the morning sunlight, the reflected sparkles are hypnotic. A body of water so big, at 55 sq km it could almost swallow the entire island of Manhattan. Also known as Port Jackson Bay, it has forever been a beacon of wonder for visitors and the source of a great sense of pride for residents. Speak to any Sydneysider who flies into the city after a prolonged absence and they'll tell you there's an indescribable feeling when the tentacled, arterial-like branches of Port Jackson come into view. I left the city a decade ago for a different life in Melbourne, but a cruise on an iconic Sydney ferry is a welcome recharge of…

DESTINATION Glistening in the afternoon light, as dark clouds massed, the waters were free of development On the flight on the way into Portland we spent the final 15 minutes of our descent passing oyer endless expanses of water: lakes and tributaries of the migh ty Colombia, the river to which Pordand owes its existence. Glistening in the afternoon light, even as dark clouds massed, the waters were also free of development, with only occasional buildings and boats visible. By the time we landed though, very little was visible because the rain had arrived, and what a deluge. It had been a wet June before we arrived on BA267 into Portland International, but by the time we took the bus from the airport, it was torrential. Standing water on Interstate…

BACKGROUND The hotel is a completely new building behind the original façade. The design is by two companies - Key Interior and Designs and ICA Studio, and has been inspired (for some reason) by the many meanings of 'lost,’ which have been “translated… into visual expressions and representations throughout the hotel’.’ WHERE IS IT? The hotel is on Ludgate Hill, just a two-minute walk from City Thameslink station (direct trains to London Gatwick) and immediately opposite the front steps of St Paul's. WHAT'S IT LIKE? In the lobby a spooky mannequin faces the wall with a jumper over her head, while behind reception there are images of lost keys, old photos, credit cards and a passport. Above is a Murano glass light installation and there are brass picture lights and…

BACKGROUND The Queen Elizabeth hotel first opened in 1958 under the Hilton group, but joined Fairmont Hotels and Resorts in 2001 (an Accor brand since 2016). This property closed in 2016 for a year-long CAD$140 million renovation. WHERE IS IT? On René Lévesque Boulevard West in Downtown. The lobby is connected to the underground shopping arcade at Place Ville Marie, which is linked to the Central railway station. WHAT'S IT LIKE? The 21-storey hotel is a huge presence occupying almost a whole block. It's not the most attractive fagade, with slit-like windows and a beige exterior, but dazzles towards the bottom with a gold sparkling pattern. The open-plan lobby is vast. During my visit, the hotel was filled with guests attending meetings and events - there are two floors dedicated…

ANNIE HARRIS Business Traveller's art director Annie is responsible for making the magazine pop every issue. Over the summer she travelled to Manchester to experience the first hotel under the newly launched Leven brand, located within a former warehouse and Grade II-listed building in the city's Village area. Check out her verdict on the brand debut on page 76. JEREMY DRAKE Jeremy is an Australian travel writer, photographer and videographer based in Melbourne. As a digital nomad, he seeks out new hotels, off-grid Airbnbs and food experiences travelling by motorbike in Vietnam. In this issue he returns to his native Sydney to report on how the city has bounced back since the lifting of Covid lockdowns; turn to page 52. DEREK PICOT Veteran hotelier Derek has worked in senior positions…

UPFRONT DUBLIN AIRPORT HAS OPENED its €320 million (£277 million) North Runway, some 15 years after planning permission was granted. The airport said the North Runway would facilitate larger aircraft, including the Airbus A380 and Boeing B747-8, as well as adding “much needed extra runway slot capacity for short-haul flights during early morning and late evening peak departure and arrival periods”. The airport said the new runway was “critical to Dublin's growing position as a hub for travel between Europe and North America”. A recent decision by Fingal County Council will allow “limited extended use of the new runway at key late-evening and early-morning busy periods”, along with the replacement of a night-time aircraft movement cap “with a more considered noise management quota system that encourages the use of quieter…

UPFRONT BOEING HAS RESUMED DELIVERY of its B787 aircraft, following approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration. Dreamliner deliveries had been suspended since May 2021, following concerns over production flaws and inspection processes, but the FAA confirmed that “Boeing has made the necessary changes to ensure that the 787 Dreamliner meets certification standards”. The administration said that it would inspect each aircraft before an airworthiness certificate is issued and cleared for delivery. American Airlines was the recipient of the first B787 delivery in more than a year, and hopes to take delivery of a total of nine Dreamliners this year, followed by four in 2023, and 12 in 2024. Boeing is understood to have built up a backlog of over 100 constructed B787 aircraft which are awaiting delivery to customers,…

IAG CARGO IS TRIALLING an electric cargo vehicle at London Heathrow. The electric terminal tractor known as a Terberg YT203EV saves approximately 30 tonnes of C02, the equivalent of planting more than 1,250 trees or taking more than seven cars off the road. The tractor can deliver the same capability as the current diesel units in a more environmentally sustainable way, allowing drivers to carry out their work while avoiding diesel engine emissions. In addition to its electric solution, Terberg is exploring the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, having placed a unit to test an off-airfield application.…

UNITED HAS INVESTED US$15 million in Eve Air Mobility and signed a conditional purchase agreement for 200 four-seat electric aircraft plus 200 options, expecting the first deliveries in 2026. The flying taxis - or eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles) - are designed to be ‘air taxis’ in urban markets. Eve's design uses conventional fixed wings, rotors and pushers, for a ‘lift-plus-cruise’ design and has a range of 60 miles (100 km). Eve is also creating a new air traffic management software designed for the urban air mobility industry to scale safely.…

UPFRONT THE GRADE II-LISTED Battersea Power Station opens to the public on October 14, almost 40 years after its closure. The newly restored Turbine Halls will be home to more than 100 shops, restaurants and bars, while events will take place in the two Control Rooms (complete with the original dials). Visitors can take part in the chimney lift experience, which offers 360-degree panoramic views of London's skyline. A new pedestrianised high street, Electric Boulevard, runs from the south of the Power Station to the new Battersea Power Station underground station, and will open on the same day. The £9 billion regeneration project is ongoing and includes the debut of the adjacent Art'otel.…

One of the mysteries of flying long distance at lowcost is why some routes do better than others, Why, for example, are transadantic routes from Europe more suited to low-cost airlines than routes to Asia and Australasia? First, some history. Low-cost transatlantic flying has been around for decades. In the 1970s I worked in the travel trade and sold many seats on what were then branded as ‘quasischeduled charter airlines’. These were numerous. Most operated between the UK and North America. Indeed, transatlantic low-cost flying can trace its history as far back as 1948 when Iceland's Lofileidir (the forerunner of today's Icelandair) launched transatlantic flights. Because IATA rules at that time ensured one airline did not undercut another, Loftleidir circumvented IATA's rules by not joining IATA and flying out of…

Crown Towers Sydney A luxurious new five-star hotel in Sydney's Barangaroo development, Crown Towers Sydney is the highest hotel building in the city, an imposing harbourside landmark with 349 guest rooms, an infinity pool with cabanas, poolside service and 14 restaurants, crownhotels.com.au/sydney/crown-towers Ace Hotel Part of the swanky, US-owned Ace Hotel group, this chic, yet casual, boutique hotel has been crafted inside Surry Hills’ former Tyne House brick factory. With 264 rooms (complete with your own in-room record player) and on-site restaurant Loam, Ace Sydney leads the charge in the surge of boutique hotels sprouting throughout the city post-pandemic. acehotel.com/sydney A by Adina Sydney This new boutique aparthotel near Wynyard train station offers studio, executive and two-bedroom apartments with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the southern end of George Street. At 22…

4 HOURS IN… 1 BREAKFAST TACOS Austin has a fantastic food scene; its proximity to Mexico explains the creation of Tex Mex cuisine. Make the most of your visit by starting the day with the city's famous breakfast tacos. Veracruz All Natural, run by Veracruz-born sisters Reyna and Maritza Vazquez, has five outposts in Austin and draws in queues with its homemade corn tortillas, smoothies and wide selection of tacos featuring organic ingredients (hence the name). Opt for the meaty El Breakfast Taco or the veggie Migas Poblanas, filled with egg, tortilla chips (a genius addition), poblano pepper, red onion, black beans, queso fresco and avocado. Its site at Line Hotel on East Cesar Chavez offers both indoor and outdoor space, as well as a collection window masquerading as a…

BACKGROUND The Leven brand is a joint venture between Mancunian brothers Joshua and Ben Senior, and Wellbrook Hospitality. This is the first Leven hotel. It opened in November 2021. WHERE IS IT? Centrally located on the corner of Chorlton Street and Canal Street in the Village area of Manchester. It's a five-minute walk from Piccadilly train station, This is a lively area with many restaurants and bars, and the main shopping area and university are also just a short walk away. WHAT'S IT LIKE? This Grade II-listed red brick building was formerly a cotton warehouse and has kept much of its industrial heritage - exposed brick interior walls, visible pipes and conduits in the ceilings while cast-iron columns are artfully blended with contemporary furniture and fittings. From the street there…